Inside fortress Maotai: secrets of China hard liquor that’s rocket fuel for its soft power ambitions

Visitors detect Maotai, nestled on the slopes of a tiny valley in the north of Guizhou province, long before they see the small town. The stench from its fermentation tanks is carried on the wind, and is so pervasive that locals do not even notice it. “What smell?” they ask, with surprise. Maotai gives its name to China’s most famous liquor, as well as its part publicly traded and part state-owned produ­cer, Kweichow Moutai, which was founded in 1951 with the merger of...